The Quiet
by Lunaculus
Summary: Losing someone hurts the most when there's no chance left for goodbyes. * Post-I Am My Mom * Oneshot * Character Death *


It seemed to hit Garnet the hardest, as she was the first to realize the unavoidable. Her future sight might have not been able to reach as far as the Homeworld to see what was to come of Steven.

What she could see, however, was the quiet.

It seemed as though time itself had stopped ever since Steven had been taken away. Everything was still, peaceful and quiet. There was a solemn beauty in the silent streets of Beach City and the faint, soft cries of the seagulls. The waves in the ocean were gentle and the sun shined warmly, yet the breeze that blew throughout the town held to it a painful chill.

And as far as Garnet could see, that was all there was to the world from then on out.

It took weeks of quiet struggle until her form finally collapsed and she found herself separated.

"There's no other future", Sapphire whispered with seamless tears running down her blue cheeks. She barely even breathed as she shook with pain. "We couldn't protect him. We couldn't do anything. We should have..."

Ruby bit her lip as she watched the frost flowers beneath the hem of Sapphire's dress slowly crawl closer, growing into a field of frost across the empty beach. The last remnants of the day's sunlight illuminated the icy patterns, giving them a faint sparkle. It hadn't been that long since Ruby had last seen Sapphire, yet even with the situation at hand, she couldn't help but feel captivated by the sight of her. But for the first time ever it didn't give her mind peace.

"...you've said it times and times again", she spoke gently and crawled closer, placing her hands on Sapphire's shoulders. "That they're just images of a future that _could_ happen."

"I see no hope", the blue gem sobbed helplessly. "It's over. I- I usually see something to indicate a possibility... a way to change the future I see but..."

"I'm not doubting you. I just can't... I don't want to believe that that's it. We could have done something, we could still..."

The small red form shook, pressing against Sapphire as she bit her lip more roughly, letting out a joyless laugh.

"...please, Sapphy. If you cry, I'll cry."

Without a word, the slender blue arms wrapped around Ruby and embraced her. For a moment Ruby held her breath in a last desperate effort to hold back her tears, but soon found herself overwhelmed. Giving in, she pressed her face into Sapphire's shoulder and sobbed openly. Unfused, just embracing each other for comfort, the cold of Sapphire's ice and heat of Ruby's flames melting into a puddle of tears that slowly crawled into the ocean, to be lost and forgotten.

Amethyst was the first to catch on to Garnet's sudden need of solitude. For the longest time she would only shoot brief glances of concern towards their quiet friend slowly falling apart. There was a terrifying feeling to seeing her in that state. Garnet had always been the strongest one. The one everyone could go to for advice and support. But now... No matter how much Amethyst busied herself in the rocket preparations with Pearl and Peridot, the feeling wouldn't go away.

It wasn't until Pearl's outburst at Garnet that the feeling consumed her.

Not saying a word, she fled the scene of the two fighting. The horror clutched at her chest with a grip that felt as though it could shatter her gem.

She couldn't stop running. So she kept running. The sun in the sky melted her little by little with its heat and she cursed it all, covered in sweat and barely able to breath with the anxiety strangling her.

Yet she still ran. All the way through the city, up some hills, past a large field.

Until she reached a forest.

Amethyst collapsed, gasping for air and dizzy with exhaustion. Her whole body shook with the pain of going past her limits, yet she still attempted to lift her body up and carry on. Her arms failed to support her weight, however, and she fell once more, face first into the dirt. Releasing a pained cry of frustration, Amethyst hit the ground as hard as she could with her fist.

"You... you stupid-! Why?! Why didn't you talk to me?!"

Her tears were quickly swallowed by the dry ground as they fell upon it.

"...us worst gems were supposed to stick together."

She cried there, in secret, until the sun no longer shined. Until the streams from her eyes dried up fading into nothing more than a dull headache and an exhaustion unlike anything she had ever felt before.

Until she had no more tears to shed.

Amethyst no longer joined the rocket preparations after that. Instead she was gone most of the time, only coming back to the temple for a short rest every other day before leaving somewhere again using the warp. She never said a word aside from muttering about a duty she had to fulfill if questioned.

"...someone's got to do it", she would whisper. "He didn't leave for us to leave them like this."

It didn't take long for curiosity and concern to take the better of Peridot. One night, after Pearl had left for more supplies, she followed her.

And found her fighting.

It wasn't just a single corrupted gem. It was several. An entire lair filled with huge gem monsters with their claws ferociously reaching for Amethyst, screeching and screaming as the whip lashed at them. She got struck several times. Each time Peridot caught a glimpse of her friend amidst the mess of sharp teeth and claws, she saw a new long scar spread across her form. But that wasn't what unsettled her.

It was the void of pain. Rather, Amethyst's face was distorted with a desperation. A smile that tried its damnest to be a comforting one, only turning twisted as another pair of claws hit her across the face.

"Let me help you!" she yelled, voice almost breaking. "We're sisters!"

Unable to watch idly by, Peridot called out to her friend. In the very second, Amethyst turned to face the green gem. The pain was there at last, evident in the plead of her eyes as she looked at her friend, as her full lips mouthed two words.

"I can't."

Within seconds, her form disappeared in a puff of smoke, gem falling on the dirty ground with a faint sound that echoed hauntingly inside Peridot's head.

Pearl was furious. As soon as Peridot explained what she'd seen, she threw a fit. A gem of order, Pearl had never been one to break things. Yet now she was a flurry of destruction. Hitting, throwing and and tearing everything she could get her hands on. No matter how much Peridot tried to speak sense to her, it was of no use. And when the microwave along with the TV were smashed across the floor, the fridge had toppled down on it's back with the doors blown open and torn from their hinges, Pearl glared at Peridot. Or rather, at Amethyst in her hands.

"You were supposed to help us!" she yelled, marching towards Peridot with a threatening stroll. Peridot backed away in fear, hands sheltering the purple gem the best she could but Pearl snatched her from her either way.

"Don't you see?! We're almost out of time! They must be in Homeworld by now! If we don't hurry, we... you can't slack off now, Amethyst!"

As her screaming did nothing to bring Amethyst's form back, she threw the round gem at the wall with force.

"Why is no one else taking this seriously?!"

Peridot gasped in fear and dashed to pick her friend up, eyes immediately checking the gleaming purple for cracks. Pearl glared daggers at her for a lingering while before disappearing out of the door.

Peridot took Amethyst with her to the barn that night. She could see Lapis already from afar, sitting on the roof with her eyes up to the sky. That same, dull expression on her face. Despite it always looking the same, Peridot had grown to recognize small differences in it depending on whatever emotion the blue gem was hiding within. As soon as she climbed up to join her on the roof, she caught the slightest frown on her features and knew. Careful not to intrude, Peridot crawled next to her friend, still holding Amethyst tightly in her palm. A question lingered between them, unasked. Peridot eyed Lapis up and down before lowering her gaze to the ground beneath.

"...realistically speaking, we're already too late."

The words came in a low murmur without Peridot's usual snarky tone. She let out a long sigh right after and gently graced her thumb across the cut of Amethyst's gem.

"He probably thought we could get to him before they... well. He was never really a very bright gem to begin with. Or gem-person. A gemson, if you will."

"Do you think it's over now?"

The blue one's words caught Peridot by surprise and she flinched. Looking up at her friend she saw her leaning back, using her hands for support as she gazed at the stars, the galaxy reflecting beautifully on her large eyes.

"...what do you mean?"

"...do you think we can go home now?"

For a lingering moment Peridot was stuck staring at Lapis in disbelief. The blue gem's words were a mere whisper, whisked away by a gust of wind as soon as they left her lips. Peridot felt a bead of sweat roll down her forehead.

Why was everyone acting like this? Of course grief was only natural but this...?

"What?" she mouthed before managing to force out her voice. "What? You... you want to go back? There? It... it's not safe there! It's not right! And they killed-"

"He said she was Rose Quartz. You told me that."

Peridot attempted to continue, but was left wordless by the look in Lapis' eyes as she lowered them. The bags below her eyes were now very evident, a conflicted frown distorting her graceful features in a way that was familiar, yet different.

"...if that's true, the war's over. They have no reason to come back or hunt us down. No reason to hurt us. ...we could go home."

"The Earth is our home now!" Peridot exclaimed. "Y-you and I both have learned to love this place. Everything's... alive. Right?"

"...I'm tired."

Lapis' voice was broken and barely audible. With a thud she allowed her arms to fail her weight, her back falling against the roof. She laid back and lifted her forearm to shield her face. Or to hide it. Peridot wasn't sure.

"I don't know anymore. I just... I just want peace for once."

They both remained there, unmoving under the stars until the quiet grew unbearable and Peridot left Lapis alone to rest.

With Amethyst and Peridot both gone from the rocket project, Pearl was left all alone with her work. And work she did, tirelessly. Day and night. When she wasn't making sure the screws were tight enough or that the fuel tank was without leaks, she was scavenging several places for scraps to use for the rocket. The pile of parts grew and shrunk in a steady pace and for weeks on the cliff near the temple. Occasionally, Peridot would come see her and ask if she needed someone to talk to. Each time carrying Amethyst.

She was yet to come back.

Each time Pearl would use the same words to chase the two away.

"If you're not here to help, don't bother coming at all."

And each time Peridot left with a look of mixed worry and frustration.

But avoiding your own thoughts can only help you so far. It took weeks but eventually Pearl found herself being stared down at by Rose herself, with the shatters of the pink gem she shared with her son in her hands.

"...I trusted you, Pearl", her soft voice spoke with an unfamiliar coldness. "Why didn't you stop him? Why didn't you talk to him?"

Pearl's hand shook with a fear greater than an earthquake, the cold shade of guilt tracing fingers on her skin until she fell to her knees.

"I- I worked hard! I tried my best, I-! I-it was his choice, I couldn't have-!"

"You failed me."

The pink shards escaped her grasp and fell on the ground, scattered. Gasping in horror, she struggled to gather them back to her hands yet they always slipped from her slender, pale fingers, leaving scars in their woke.

"I didn't know!" she pleaded in despair. "He didn't tell us! He told none of us! We... we all loved him! We didn't..."

The pale blue eyes gazed up in desparation, looking for a trace of forgiveness in the ghostly figure in front of her.

There was none.

"You didn't do anything."

She awoke with a start, the tears pooling in her eyes blocking her vision as she sobbed. With no strenght to pull herself up from the pile of junk she had collapsed on, she remained there. Trembling from the strength of her long suppressed grief and struggling to breathe under the weight of her crushing guilt.

"I'm sorry", she wept with no power. "I'm so sorry."

As a cold, Fall breeze blew through the streets of Beach City, a child wandered through the empty town along with it. The summer was long gone and it was only a matter of time until the first snow of the year would come. Everything was eerily quiet with only the cries of seagulls echoing along with the crashing waves, sounding lonesome in their quiet.

Connie pulled up the collar of her jacket to shield her face from the cold, her tired eyes on the ground as she walked towards a familiar building. The car wash was dark, as it had been ever since that faithful dusk. No cars had been to it for a long time and the driveway was covered with a thin layer of sand blown there by the ocean winds.

The only car there was a familiar van, left in place long enough to have itself veiled by pollen and dust. At the back sat a lone man, grown thinner and far more gray than Connie remembered him having been. Concentrating on tuning his guitar, it took a moment before he noticed the child approaching. When he looked up, it was with both confusion and what seemed to be the slightest relief.

"...oh, hey. Connie. It's been a while", he greeted with a friendly laugh. "Your parents let you come visit again?"

"...I came on my own", she admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. "They're paying a therapist to help me but it hardly helps talking about alien rocks and magical phenomenon to someone who doesn't believe in them."

"Trust me, I can imagine. Soda?"

"Yeah. Thank you."

She walked to the van and gave Greg a faint smile before taking the can he was offering her. He shuffled slightly on his spot, making room for Connie to sit on and patting the spot next to him. She sat down without hesitation. The quiet lurked in as Greg failed to resume to his tuning, his eyes following something that wasn't there with a pained melancholy. Seeing the longing gaze, Connie looked in front of them as well, only to have a wave of coldness wash over her.

"...he's not coming back, is he?" she whispered in a weak voice.

"...I think so too."

The quiet swallowed the carwash as the two of them huddled closer to each other for comfort, Greg wrapping a fatherly arm around Connie and pulling her close. They leaned slightly against each other, both looking for support as they watched the wind make the fallen leaves dance in a blur of red and yellow.

"...you lost your son", she said quietly, chewing on her lower lip. "Yet you're really calm. ...how?"

Greg laughed out but there was no happiness in the sound.

"I guess by now I've just... grown used to losing family."

"I'm sorry", Connie whispered and clutched at Greg's white top slightly in look for comfort. "It must feel awful."

"It's just life", Greg replied with a tired sigh. "...it hurts more than anything but you can't really fight it. It just... happens."

"I miss him. I really, really miss him."

The tears came without a warning and poured down Connie's brown face. She swallowed a couple times to keep them at bay but as soon as Greg gently pet her head, she lost control. Now clutching desperately at Greg's top, she buried her face in his chest and cried. Cried her heart out while his big hand petted away at her head, comforting. Embracing. A single spark of warmth that he gave away with a gentle motion, knowing that the only thing to give him warmth in the cold, relentless quiet was gone.

Cold and quiet like the approaching winter.

* * *

A/N: As requested by ironbar36 on tumblr.

This was a real pain to work on, yet also sort of therapeutic. At first I was thinking of adding a mention of Lars' fate but I couldn't make it work with the other parts as well. So instead I just focused on the main cast, pretty much.

The document on my computer for this fic is named , by the way. I think it's appropriate.

A quick reminder that I'm taking fic commissions! If you have an idea you'd like to see me write a fic of for you (it can also be about your own characters), send me a note and we can discuss it further. :D The prices are semi-low, just something to get me motivated to write more and give me a little extra cash to buy food and school books with.

Thank you for reading and I hope you suffered lol ;D


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